Pending
before the court are the Petitioner's Motion To Vacate,
Set Aside, Or Correct Sentence In Accordance With 28 U.S.C.
§ 2255 (Docket No. 1); the Government's Response
(Docket No. 9); and the Petitioner's Reply (Docket No.
10). For the reasons set forth herein, the Motion To Vacate,
Set Aside, Or Correct Sentence In Accordance With 28 U.S.C.
§ 2255 (Docket No. 1) is DENIED, and this action is
DISMISSED.

II.
Procedural Background

The
Petitioner pled guilty in this case to participating in a
drug trafficking conspiracy, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §
846. (Docket Nos. 712, 713, 714 in Case No. 3:09cr00099).
Through the Plea Agreement, the Petitioner acknowledged that
he qualified as a career offender under the Sentencing
Guidelines. (Docket No. 714, at 5, in Case No. 3:09cr00099).
At the subsequent sentencing hearing, on June 25, 2012, the
court imposed a below-guideline sentence of 100 months of
imprisonment. (Docket Nos. 763, 764, 765 in Case No.
3:09cr00099). The record indicates that no appeal was taken.

III.
Analysis

A.
28 U.S.C. § 2255

The
Petitioner has brought this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
§ 2255. Section 2255 provides a statutory mechanism for
challenging the imposition of a federal sentence:

A prisoner in custody under sentence of a court established
by Act of Congress claiming the right to be released upon the
ground that the sentence was imposed in violation of the
Constitution or laws of the United States, or that the court
was without jurisdiction to impose such sentence, or that the
sentence was in excess of the maximum authorized by law, or
is otherwise subject to collateral attack, may move the court
which imposed the sentence to vacate, set aside or correct
the sentence.

28 U.S.C. § 2255(a). In order to obtain relief under
Section 2255, a petitioner “‘ must demonstrate
the existence of an error of constitutional magnitude which
had a substantial and injurious effect or influence on the
guilty plea or the jury's verdict.'”
Humphress v. United States,398 F.3d 855, 858 (6th
Cir. 2005)(quoting Griffin v. United States, 330
F.3d 733, 736 (6th Cir. 2003)).

If a
factual dispute arises in a § 2255 proceeding, the court
is to hold an evidentiary hearing to resolve the dispute.
Ray v. United States, 721 F.3d 758, 761 (6th Cir.
2013). An evidentiary hearing is not required, however, if
the record conclusively shows that the petitioner is not
entitled to relief. 28 U.S.C. § 2255(b); Ray,
721 F.3d at 761; Arredondo v. United States, 178
F.3d 778, 782 (6th Cir. 1999). A hearing is also
unnecessary “if the petitioner's allegations
‘cannot be accepted as true because they are
contradicted by the record, inherently incredible, or
conclusions rather than statements of fact.'”
Id.

Having
reviewed the pleadings, briefs, and records filed in the
Petitioner's underlying criminal case, as well as the
filings in this case, the court finds it unnecessary to hold
an evidentiary hearing because the records conclusively
establish that the Petitioner is not entitled to relief on
the issues raised.

B.
Johnson v. United States

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The
Petitioner claims that his sentence should be vacated because
the Supreme Court&#39;s decision in Johnson v. United
States, ___ U.S. ___, 135 S.Ct. 2551, 192 L.Ed.2d 569
(2015) undermines the validity of Section 4B1.1 of the
Sentencing Guidelines, the career offender guideline, which
was applied to him at sentencing. In Johnson, the
Supreme Court held that the so-called “residual
clause” of the Armed Career Criminal Act
(“ACCA”), 18 U.S.C. § 924(e), is
unconstitutionally vague. The ACCA imposes a 15-year
mandatory minimum sentence for defendants convicted of
certain firearms offenses who have three previous convictions
for a “violent felony” or a ...

Our website includes the first part of the main text of the court's opinion.
To read the entire case, you must purchase the decision for download. With purchase,
you also receive any available docket numbers, case citations or footnotes, dissents
and concurrences that accompany the decision.
Docket numbers and/or citations allow you to research a case further or to use a case in a
legal proceeding. Footnotes (if any) include details of the court's decision. If the document contains a simple affirmation or denial without discussion,
there may not be additional text.

Buy This Entire Record For
$7.95

Download the entire decision to receive the complete text, official citation,
docket number, dissents and concurrences, and footnotes for this case.